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Sheet 01 · The AI Found the Issues. Who's Telling You Which Ones Matter?
LightTable uses AI to surface coordination and constructability issues across the project team. Preempt Global is an independent owner-side review that ranks the findings, estimates the exposure, and gives you a clear picture of what deserves attention before it reaches the field.
Owner-Side Review · 48-Hour Turnaround · $50K Exposure Guarantee
At A Glance
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| Preempt Global | LightTable | |
|---|---|---|
| Primary model | Independent owner-side review service | AI-powered QA/QC software platform |
| Who it's for | Retained by and reports to the owner alone | Architects, developers, and general contractors |
| Turnaround | 48-hour standard turnaround | LightTable states AI findings in minutes; 24-hr avg. to first findings |
| Findings format | High/Medium/Low + estimated $ exposure + schedule impact | AI issue detection with collaborative review and tracking |
| Guarantee | $50K documented exposure found, or it's free | No equivalent outcome guarantee identified on the public site |
| Pricing | Published, on this site | Demo / proposal inquiry |
| Best fit | Owner wants an independent, decision-ready risk review | Team wants scalable, continuous AI-assisted QA/QC |
LightTable figures above are LightTable's own published claims, not independently verified. See the sections below for the sourcing on each row.
The Core Difference
LightTable states its platform supports architects, developers, and general contractors. That broad workflow is a strength — the software is built to help the whole project team surface issues, collaborate, track responsibility, and resolve findings across preconstruction.
Preempt Global is intentionally narrower. We're retained by the owner, report to the owner, and evaluate the issued set through the owner's exposure: cost, schedule, scope, and decisions that get expensive once construction starts. That doesn't make LightTable's platform work against the owner — it means the platform is built to support the whole project team, and Preempt is built to give the owner an independent point of view alongside that team.
By its own site: supports architects, developers, and general contractors scaling their internal QA process.
Built for collaboration: comments, issue ownership, and resolution tracking across the whole team.
Real, useful work — scoped to help the project team find and manage issues as a shared workflow.
✓ Paid by the owner. Reports to no one else.
✓ Evaluates the set through cost, schedule, and scope exposure — the owner's lens, specifically.
✓ An independent point of view alongside the project team — not a seat inside its workflow.
Doesn't our project team already have QA/QC covered?
Your architect, consultants, contractor, and internal team should all be reviewing the documents — those reviews are necessary, and Preempt doesn't replace them. What it adds is a separate review focused on the gaps, conflicts, and ambiguities that can become financial or schedule exposure, run for the owner alone rather than as part of the design or construction team's internal workflow.
Collaboration is valuable. Independence is also.
AI Finds. People Decide.
LightTable's AI is built to identify coordination and constructability issues quickly, and its platform includes expert validation, issue tracking, comments, and workflow tools. That helps a project team process a large volume of information much faster.
But an owner still has a different question: which findings can materially affect my budget, schedule, or scope — and what should I push to resolve first?
Preempt's deliverable isn't a software queue. It's a focused owner-side report — findings ranked by priority, translated into estimated exposure and schedule impact, presented as a decision-ready list. The goal isn't more items to review. It's making the important ones harder to miss.
LightTable — AI Detection + Collaborative Workflow
Preempt Global — Owner-Side Risk Review
More findings do not automatically mean more clarity.
The Guarantee
LightTable
AI-POWERED QA/QC PLATFORM
LightTable provides software and expert-supported workflows for identifying, reviewing, assigning, and resolving project issues. Its public materials emphasize speed, collaboration, prioritization, and repeatable review throughout design. The value is in helping teams find and manage issues earlier — the owner still evaluates the findings and decides what action to take.
Preempt Global
$50K EXPOSURE FOUND — OR THE REVIEW IS FREE
If the review doesn't surface at least $50,000 in documented cost exposure, the review is free. That's a commitment to the result of the engagement — not access to a tool, a dashboard, or a volume of findings. The review is built around identifying meaningful owner exposure and making it visible before it becomes a field decision.
A platform helps your team review. Our guarantee puts a number on what the review must deliver.
Speed
LightTable states its AI can generate findings in minutes, with an average of 24 hours to first findings — speed that makes repeated review possible throughout design and preconstruction. Preempt's standard review turns around in 48 hours. The difference isn't a race to the first alert. It's what arrives at the end: a focused owner-side report with prioritized findings, estimated exposure, schedule impact, and a clear order of attention. LightTable is built for continuous QA/QC. Preempt is built for a decisive owner review when you need an independent read on the set.
LightTable
Preempt Global
The fastest alert is only useful if the right person knows what to do next.
The Deliverable
LightTable's platform is built for ongoing collaboration: teams review issues, add comments, track ownership, monitor resolution, compare versions, and rerun documents as the project develops — useful when many stakeholders are actively coordinating the work. Preempt's output is deliberately simpler: every finding is organized around the owner's decision.
What the owner actually gets back — Preempt Global
| Priority | Finding | Est. Field Cost | Schedule |
|---|---|---|---|
| HIGH | Structural / architectural scope conflict | $85,000 | 3–5 weeks |
| HIGH | MEP coordination omission | $62,000 | 2–4 weeks |
| MED | Specification / detail inconsistency | $18,000 | 1–2 weeks |
| LOW | Clarification required before procurement | $4,500 | Minimal |
What the owner actually gets back — ranked, priced, scheduled.
What still requires project-team judgment (illustrative)
Duct routing vs. beam — Lvl 4
OpenSpec section 09 vs. finish sched.
AssignedPanel schedule mismatch
In ReviewDoor hardware finish — Suite 220
OpenA real, useful issue queue — no rank, no dollar figure, no schedule impact attached. That part is still the team's to work out.
Repeatability vs. Independence
LightTable's ability to rerun drawings, compare versions, track changes, and carry lessons forward from project to project is one of its strongest advantages. For teams managing many active projects, repeatable QA/QC can become part of the operating system.
Preempt serves a different purpose. We provide an independent review at the moments when the owner wants a separate assessment of the issued set — before permit, before GMP, before bid, before a major release, or when the project has accumulated enough complexity that another set of eyes is worth more than another internal workflow.
These aren't mutually exclusive. A project can run continuous software-assisted coordination and still benefit from an independent owner-side review before a major decision.
Automation scales the process. Independence tests the assumptions.
Track Record, Addressed Honestly
LightTable publicly states it has reviewed more than 20 million square feet, more than $10 billion in project costs, and hundreds of thousands of documents. Those are meaningful indicators of scale and momentum. Preempt isn't trying to compete on platform volume — we cap capacity so each review gets direct attention and owner-focused interpretation. The value isn't the number of documents processed. It's the quality of the conclusions, the visibility of the exposure, and the accountability attached to the review.
LightTable states
20M+ sq ft reviewed
LightTable states
$10B+ project costs
Preempt turnaround
48 HRS
Preempt, every finding
FOUNDER'S NAME
Scale is a product advantage. Focus is a service advantage.
One More Objection
AI can process large document sets quickly, compare information across disciplines, and surface patterns that would take a person much longer to find. That's valuable, and it's changing how construction QA/QC gets done. But AI output isn't the same as owner representation.
Someone still has to determine whether a finding is material, connect it to the project's contractual and financial exposure, understand the practical consequence of leaving it unresolved, and communicate it in a way that supports a decision. Preempt uses technology where it improves speed and coverage, but the engagement stays accountable to the owner. The final product isn't "the AI found this." It's "this is the exposure, this is why it matters, and this is what should be addressed now."
AI makes review faster. Accountability makes it useful.
Pricing Transparency
LightTable's public website directs prospective customers to book a demo and doesn't publish standard pricing — its platform may be priced to project scale, product scope, or enterprise needs. Preempt Global publishes its review pricing: a $7,000/mo retainer for unlimited set reviews, or a $9,000 one-time review, with every deliverable included by default. You can see the number before you get on a call and decide whether an independent owner-side review belongs in the project budget.
See Full Pricing →Fair's Fair
Choose LightTable when your team wants a software platform for repeated AI-assisted QA/QC, multi-user collaboration, issue assignment, version tracking, and continuous review across many projects or design milestones.
Choose Preempt when you want an independent owner-side assessment of a specific set, a concise prioritized report, estimated exposure and schedule impact, and a review engagement with a defined financial guarantee.
If you already use LightTable, Preempt can still serve as an independent owner-side checkpoint before a major project decision.
| Your need | Better starting point |
|---|---|
| Continuous AI-assisted QA/QC across projects | LightTable |
| Multi-user issue tracking and collaboration | LightTable |
| Version comparison and repeated review | LightTable |
| Independent review reporting only to the owner | Preempt Global |
| Prioritized owner exposure and schedule impact | Preempt Global |
| Defined $50K-exposure-or-free guarantee | Preempt Global |
| A focused checkpoint before permit, GMP, or bid | Preempt Global |
Sheet 01 of 01 — Last Call
Book a 30-minute demo. We'll show you how an independent owner-side review fits alongside your architect's QC, your contractor's coordination process, and any AI tools already in your workflow.
Not a replacement for your team. A second look that answers to you.
